Yreka to Montague

Yreka Western

The entire line is in Yard Limits, with speed limit 20 mph,
from the terminal facilities at Yreka (MP 4.5), where there is a yard and a
locomotive repair facility, with the depot on the east side of the line, heading
north-northeast, and then turning northeast, out of the little valley surrounded
by wooded hills that Yreka nestles in, and entering onto the broad Shasta Valley
through which the Siskiyou line and the Shasta River pass. Clearly visible
across the valley is Mount Shasta, still with its cap of clouds. The YW twists
its way south along a hillside, then east, northeast, and southeast, descending to the valley floor, with Mt. Shasta now
to the left, now to the right, and now dead ahead. Eventually, the railroad
heads more or less directly east, with Mt. Shasta firmly to the right. The line
passes through a large lumberyard, which seems to provide the major traffic
source for the line. We observe some of the facilities and operations at the
lumberyard as we pass through. The majority of the way along the line, it
passes through open fields, with cows, a few bulls, and various kinds of
wildlife visible. A stream crossing provides a view of turtles sunning
themselves on a dead tree stump by the water.

At Montague (MP 0.0), the line comes along the west side of
the original Southern Pacific line through the area, later the SP Siskiyou
Line and now operated by the Central Oregon & Pacific, sharing a depot on the
west side of the latter.